Thousands axed from council house waiting list
Northumberland County CouncilThousands of people with "no chance" of getting a council house will be removed from a waiting list.
Councillors signed off plans on Tuesday that will see more than 7,000 people without an "identified housing need" wiped off the housing register in Northumberland.
County Council bosses said the move, which will cut the size of the register by more than half, is needed to help focus efforts on those in greatest need of a new home.
Critics branded the overhaul "cruel" when the proposed reorganisation was unveiled earlier this year.
Colin Horncastle, the Conservative-run council's cabinet member for housing, said he expected "a lot of kickback" to the plan but said the current system "doesn't make sense in the modern world".
"These people have no chance of being allocated a house."
Band 3 is the lowest band and those applicants represent almost 58% of the 12,275 people on the register, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Horncastle said removing them will give housing officers "double the time" to focus on "people that actually have a real housing need", such as those with medical issues or who are living in overcrowded or unsanitary conditions.
The council's revised housing allocation policy will also mean applicants without a verified local connection to Northumberland will no longer be eligible to join the housing register, with the exception of those leaving the Armed Forces.
